Cycloolefin production utilizing isobutylene or its dimerization product as catalyst activator



nited States. 393 5 2,972,640 Patented. Feb 21,951

- States Patents 2,686,208 and 2,686,209. The preferred Sekul, Jackson, Miss., assignors, by mesne assignments,

I to Cities Service Research and Development Company, NewYork, N.Y., a corporationof- New Jersey;

N0 Drawing. Filed Apr. 27, 1559,} Ser. Nof. s0s,9so

9 Claims: (C l 260.;5 1

This invention relates to methods of preparing cyclo olefins, in particular, -1,5 -cyclooctadien" ahd LS-cyclooctadiene's. 4

The prior art shows the production of cycloolefin's from conjugated open chain diolefiniccompounds using a catalyst derived from nickel carbonyl by'thereplacement of one or two of the CO groups thereof with 'andrgafnic phosphite or phosphinel These process'esrquire' an impractical and long period of-time for reaction. In

one prior disclosure, the process illustratively ICq11lI6S28 hours in oneinstance and four days in ano'ther, Manifestly this holdup time isunecono'mic and undesirable Shortening the time for reaction of: prior art roc sses results in an unsatisfactoryyield and proportion of con version of starting materials. Another p'roblm encountered is control of the reaction to 'yield a relativelyj high proportion of the desiredcycloolefin, and to inhibit side reactions.

In accordance with the present invention amuch briefer reaction'time is possible and side reactions are inhibited when utilizing particular activators along with the catalyst;

It is an object of this invention to prepare cycloolefinic compounds. 7 e

It is a further object of this invention toprepare an activator and catalyst mixture providing rapid catalysis of conjugated diolefinic compounds to cycloolefinic compounds. p U

Another object of this invention is to provide a process of activating nickel carbonyl catalysts and catalytic de- M rivatives thereof with isobutylene and/or the dimerization product thereof, hereinafter called diisobutylene'.

Further objects will be apparent, to those skilled in the art, from a consideration of the following description. The starting material for this invention is a conjugated open chain diolefin, preferably 1,3-butadiene. 'Other conjugated open chain diolefins, particularly 1,3'-diolefins, and including 2-methyl-l,3-butadiene (isoprene);' 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene; 2-chloro-l,3-butadiene (chloroprene); 2,3-dichloro-l,3-butadiene; 1,3'-pentadiene (piperylene); phenyl diolefins. Partially substituted halogen derivatives may be used, including mixed halogen derivatives such as chloro-fiuoro-1,3-butadienes. Other open chain conjugated diolefins which 'may be dimerized to cycloolefins having at least eight'ca'rb'on atoins in the ring are useful. An example is 2,4-hexadiene.' '-If desired, peroxides may be removed from the diolefin feed by treatment with ferrous salts, thiosulfates, 'or sulfites according to availablemethods.

The catalysts utilizableherein are derivatives of nickel carbonyl bearing,-in-l.i'euof one-ortwo of its carbonyl catalysts for use'in this process havea formula I r(R0 3P1x i x t n where R anualkyh' 'aryl,heterocyclic, or other organic radical, and rhas'a value of one or two, and mixtures thereof. More particularlwit is preferred to usea catalyst having astructure [(RO) P] Ni(CO) 'where R is phenyl or methyl be especially critical. Good results are vobtainedii 1th" dicyclopentadiene (dimer of '1',3 cyclopentadiene o-r'4*,7 methylene-2,S-indanediene), alone or mixedwith ben zene or other solvents such as 1,5-cyclooctadiene. Tet 'rahydrofur'an, toluene, p-cymene, and benzene, alone or in mixture withl,5 cyclooctadiene, are useful.i"'Othe'rs;of

those suggested hereinican be used as the 'sole solvent. Petroleum ethersypetroleum naphtha, and other hydro carbon solvents are. usefu l,'alone or mixed with other solvents. V i

The mere. conjoint utilization of open chain diolefin, catalyst and solvent as used in the prior art does :not "give rapid results in cycloolefin'production, and may result in undesirably high proportions of by-products. .It has now been found that specific catalyst activators are essential for rapid results, and that these activators help in selectively controlling the make-up of the end productl The activators of this invention'are 'isobutylene and diisobutylene. t

The proportioning of activator to catalyst may vary widely. A range of 13 to 1 to 2 to 1, and even 1 to 2, on a weight basis of activator to catalyst, is convenient; A 6 to 1 proportion has sometimes been found desirable but higher and lower proportions are entirely practicable within the purview of this invention. v 7 It is sometimes desirable but not essential to usea polymerization inhibitor to prevent the open-chain diolefins from polymerizing into products in addition to cyclo-. olefins. Suchinhibitors are recognized in the art and 'encompassmonoor polynuclear monoor polyphenols,

activator, by bubbling the olefin, if gaseous, into the.

mixture. On the other hand, pressures as high as 1790 p.s.i. have been utilized.

The time of reaction is a function, inter alia, of the temperature but in every case the time is shorter using the activator-catalyst combination with diolefin than is the time required at the same temperature without the activator. For instance, a temperature range of about 90150 C. has been found to be useful. Both temper-. ature and pressure may vary during the reaction.

Heretofore it was thought that only, scrupulously cleaned glass lined reaction vessels were suitable for cycloolefin production. As employed in'keeping with the teaching of this invention, glass lined reaction vessels are useful but not essential. Conveniently and with complete success, stainless steel reaction vessel have been found to be practical in this invention, as has carbon steel.

If the reagents are not adequately dry, it is'beneficial to pretreat with a dehydrating agent, or to incorporate a dehydrating agent in the reaction mixture. Suitable for this is ethylene oxide, calcium oxide, calcium carbide, and calcium sulfate.

The process may be carried out batch-wise, semicon tinuously, or continuously.

The products of reaction have utility as chemical intermediates. Thus, cyclooctadiene is useful in the preparation of cyclooctatetraene, cyclooctane, and cyclooctene, as well as in the preparation of polymers. Even the by-products such as vinylcyclohexene may be recovered and utilized, for example, to prepare synthetic resins. Another product, cyclododecatriene may be hydrogenated, to cyclododecane, for example.

It is to be understood that the specific isomers mentioned above or as understood in the art are the ones intended whenever the general name of a group of isomers is used for convenience. Thus, wherever butadiene is mentioned, 1,3-butadiene is the isomer referred to, and cyclopentadieneis l,3-cycl'opentadiene. Simillarly, the cis-cis isomer of 1,5-cyclooctadiene is the geometrical isomer of this invention.

7 The word catalyst is used .synonymo-usly with the phrase reaction initiator sometimes usedv in the art, and the phrase catalyst activators is used to denote the herein described activation compounds even though the exact functions of the compounds have not been completely. ascertained.

JThe'follo-wing examples are presented for purposes of illustration.

Example 1.-:-.-Diisbutylene activator Into a glass liner of a 710 ml. steel reaction vessel was placed 26 g. of benzene, 0.1g. of p-t-butylcatechol, 1.0g. of powdered calcium carbide, 2.0 g. of bistriphenylphosphite nickel dicarbonyl, and 5.0 g. of diisobutylene. The glass liner with its contents was weighed and cooled with powdered solidcarbon dioxide. As cooling was started, gaseous butadiene was passed into the mixture in the glass liner until the total liquid occupied approximately 40% of the volume of the liner. Then the liner was weighed to determine the weight of the butadiene added, amounting to 95 g. The liner was placed in the bomb, and heat applied. The reaction was continued for 7 hours after the contents reached a temperature-of 100 C. A yield of 75.4% cyclooctadiene was obtained, based on the amount of butadiene consumed, which was 89.2%.

Example '2.-Is0butylene activator A i Ex mp v byrusins sob ty ene nr' ce of diijs bu ylene. aud yd qqu n e .in place of pr-t -butylcatechol, and after reaching reaction temperatrn e, continuing the reaction for 7.5 hours at l18-l26" C., gave a 54.2% yield of cyclooctadiene, with 58.8% butadiene consumption.

Example 3.Other catalysts In reactions similar to those of Examples 1 and 2 using bistriphenylstilbine nickel dicarbonyl and bistrimethylphosphite nickel dicarbonyl in place of the preferred catalyst, similar results are attained.

Example 4.-0zher monomers Is'oprene and chloroprene, 'used in place of the butadiene of Examples 1 and 2, result in the production of dimethylcyclooctadiene and dichlorocyclooctadiene.

The invention of this application is related to the copending applications of Sekul and Sellers, Serial No. 803,578, filed April 2, 19-59, now Patent No. 2,964,575; Sellers and Sekul Serial No. 801,730, filed March 25, 1959; and Bosmajian Serial No. 816,856, filed May 29, 1959.

We claim:

1. In a process for the production of a cycloolefinic compound containing at least eight carbon atoms in the ring by contacting an open chain conjugated diolefin with a nickel carbonyl catalyst 'in the presence of a solvent and at a temperature between about 90 and about 150 C., the improvement comprising the step of conducting the reaction; in the. presence of a compound selected from the group consisting of isobutylene and its dimerization product. I

2. In a process for theproduction of a cycloolefinic compound containing at least eight carbon atoms in the ring by contacting an open chain conjugated diolefin with a nickel carbonyl catalyst bearing in lieu of at least one of its carbonyl groups a compound of trivalent phosphorous, in the presence of a solvent and at a temperature between about 90 and 150 C., the improvementcomprising the step of introducing into the reaction zone a compound selected from the group consisting of isobutylene and diisobutylene as catalyst activator.

3. In a process for the production of a cycloolefinic compound containing at least eight carbon atoms in the ring by contacting an open chain conjugated diolefin with a nickel carbonyl catalyst in the presence of a solvent and at a temperature between about 90 and about 150 C., the improvement comprising the step of introducing into the reaction zone a compound selected from the group consisting of isobutylene and diisobutylene as catalyst activator.

'4. In a process for the reduction of 1,5-cyclooctadiene by contacting butadiene with a nickel carbonyl a l s in t p enc o aso e t nd a a mp a: ture between about 90 and about 150 C., the improvement comprising the step of introducing into the reaction zone; a compound selected from the group consisting of isobutylene and diisobutylene as catalyst activator.

5. In aprocess tor the production of 1,5-cyclooctadiene by contacting butadiene with bistriphenylphosphite nickel dicarbonyl catalyst in the presence of a solvent and at a temperature between about 90 and about 150 C., the improvement comprising the step of conducting the reaction in the presence of a compound selected from the group consisting of isobutylene and diisobutylone as catalyst activator.

6. In a process for the production of 1,5-cyclooctadiene by contacting butadiene with bistriphenylphosphite nickel dicarbonyl catalyst in the presence of a solvent and ata temperature between about and about C., the improvementcornprising the step of introducing into thereaction zone as. catalyst activator, thecompound isobutylene.

7 In a, p oc s o h r o u e o Li-eyc o tadi- 1 by nt n e e t istfiph ny phosahite nickel dicarbonyl catalyst in the presence, ofa solvent and at 'a temperaturebetween about .,90 and'about 150 C. thei r or men -c mn s nath weet n r ducing 9. In a process for the production of 1,5-cyclooctadi- 10 ene by contacting butadiene with a nickel carbonyl organophosphite catalyst in the presence of a solvent and at a temperature between about 90 and about 150 C., the improvement comprising the step of introducing into the reaction zone a catalyst activator comprising isobu- 5 tylcne.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED .STATES PATENTS Hughes et a1. Jan. 10, 1950 Reed Aug. 10, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATION OF CORRECTION Patent No, 2 972,64O February 21, 1961 Robert Ea Burks, Jro et alo It is hereby certifiedthat error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 3, lines 43 and 44, for "Simillarly". read Similarly column 4, line 7, for 7"bistriphenylstilbine", read bistriphenylstibine line 49 for "reduction-"-v read production Signed and Sealed this 1st day of August 1961;

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER I DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer i Commissioner of Patents 

1. IN A PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A CYCLOOLEFINIC COMPOUND CONTAINING AT LEAST EIGHT CARBON ATOMS IN THE RING BY CONTACTING AN OPEN CHAIN CONJUGATED DIOLEFIN WITH A NICKEL CARBONYL CATALYST IN THE PRESENCE OF A SOLVENT AND AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN ABOUT 90* AND ABOUT 150*C., THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING THE STEP OF CONDUCTING THE REACTION IN THE PRESENCE OF A COMPOUND SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF ISOBUTYLENE AND ITS DIMERIZATION PRODUCT. 